BDP International rolls out BDP AirStar service

Third-party logistics (3PL) services provider BDP International recently rolled out BDP AirStar, a U.S.-to-Europe airfreight service.

According to company officials, BDP AirStar expedites shipments from Chicago, New York, and Houston to Amsterdam to immediate transit to all major European destinations. This service is part of a multi-carrier partnership BDP has with KLM, Air France, and Delta.

BDP International Director of Air Freight Services Gary Phelps said that by working closely with its clients and partners, BDP saw an increasing demand in the Trans-Atlantic eastbound market for a more tightly-scheduled, time-definite air service to Europe.

As part of BDP AirStar, BDP said that cargoes originating in Boston, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Harrisburg, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. can be transported and combined with Chicago, Houston, or New York Unit Load Devices (ULD), depending on shippers’ trucking arrangements.

BDP provided a specific example of BDP AirStar at work. If a KLM 612 flight departs Chicago at 4:30 p.m. and arrives in Amsterdam at 7:30 a.m. the next day, BDP collects the ULD and transports the freight to its airport facilities. It then gets combined with other cargo from Asia and is delivered to final destinations via its Amsterdam-based road feeder service. BDP added it can move freight to other carriers when it reaches allotted capacity with KPM, as per the terms of its agreement with the airline.

Phelps said the biggest benefit of BDP AirStar for customers is control.

“The reliability of a scheduled service three days a week every week enables shippers and receivers to more effectively plan and execute the transportation and logistics legs of their supply chains,” he said. “BDP AirStar consolidates cargo into tender-built, unitized shipments which raises the bar for safety, damage prevention and time-definite service for our clients.”

Phelps added that other benefits include door-to-door visibility of shipments, coupled with the price competitiveness driven by BDP Air Star’s volume procurement through dedicated carrier partners, which he noted is certainly attractive. 

While he declined to provide a specific figure for how many customers are using BDP AirStar, Phelps did say that following the phase, BDP is beginning to see increases between 30 percent and 50 percent in demand.

BDP AirStar is a scheduled service vs. more conventional options involving smaller quantities and less control,” he said. “Historically BDP has had a more substantive presence in the maritime transportation arena. With BDP AirStar, our clients will enjoy the same levels of premium customer service and shipment visibility for air freight.  In essence, we want to remove time, cost and complexity for our clients, and give more control.  The dividend (or competitive advantage) for BDP is the opportunity to earn more of our customers’ trust and business.”